The
Syrian-Israeli Armistice agreement was the last and most difficult of the agreements
concluded under the aegis of UN mediator Ralph Bunche, as empowered by
UN Security Council Resolution 62. The agreements were
supposed to lead to a final peace, but did not. The agreements were concluded in
a series of meetings between representatives of Israel and representatives of
each of each of the Arab states at Rhodes. Arab states that did not border on
Israel, including Iraq, and Saudi Arabia that had sent troops to fight Israel never concluded armistice agreements. The agreement was signed at
Rhodes.

The
armistice with Syria established several demilitarized zones. Syria agreed to
withdraw its troops from Mishmar Hayarden, but not from other areas that they
had acquired by force. Several demilitarized zones were set up. The sides could
not agree on sovereignty in these zones, so the question of sovereignty was left
unsettled. Subsequently both sides claimed sovereignty of these areas. In
theory, both sides were free to cultivate portions of the DMZs that were
allotted to them, regardless of sovereignty. In practice, Israeli attempts to
cultivate the DMZ resulted in Syrian shelling of the Israeli farm equipment and
of villages and kibbutzim inside the Green Line. For its part, Israel attempted
to implement an irrigation scheme that required work in the DMZs and displaced
Arabs who were living there, and prior to the 6-day war, as Moshe Dayan later
confessed, Israel deliberately initiated incidents by cultivating the DMZs. The
purpose was to get the Syrians to respond and give Israel an excuse for
attacking Syria, in order to retaliate for raids launched from Syria by the
Palestinian Fatah guerillas, with Syrian encouragement.

The
armistice borders with Syria were redrawn when Israel captured the Golan Heights
in the 1967 6-day war, and redrawn again in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur
(October) war.

A map of the Israeli-Syrian border and the demilitarized zones is shown at
right.

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ISRAELI-SYRIAN GENERAL ARMISTICE AGREEMENT

PREAMBLE

THE Parties to the present Agreement,

Responding to the Security Council resolution of 16 November 1948,
calling upon them, as a further provisional measure under Article 40 of the
Charter of the United Nations and in order to facilitate the transition from the
present truce to permanent peace in Palestine, to negotiate an armistice;

Having decided to enter into negotiations under
United Nations Chairmanship concerning the implementation of the Security
Council resolution of 16 November 1948; and having appointed representatives
empowered to negotiate and conclude an Armistice Agreement;

The undersigned representatives, having exchanged
their full powers found to be in good and proper form, have agreed upon the
following provisions:

ARTICLE I

With a view to promoting the return of permanent
peace in Palestine and in recognition of the importance in this regard of mutual
assurances concerning the future military operations of the Parties, the
following principles, which shall be fully observed by both Parties during the
armistice, are hereby affirmed:

1. The injunction of the Security Council against
resort to military force in the settlement of the Palestine question shall
henceforth be scrupulously respected by both Parties. The establishment of an
armistice between their armed forces is accepted as an indispensable step toward
the liquidation of armed conflict and the restoration of peace in Palestine.

2. No aggressive action by the armed forces - land,
sea or air - of either Party shall be undertaken, planned, or threatened against
the people or the armed forces of the other; it being understood that the use of
the term "planned" in this context has no bearing on normal staff planning as
generally practised in military organizations.

3. The right of each Party to its security and
freedom from fear of attack by the armed forces of the other shall be fully
respected.

ARTICLE II

With a specific view to the implementation of the
resolution of the Security Council of 16 November 1948, the following principles
and purposes are affirmed:

1. The principle that no military or political
advantage should be gained under the truce ordered by the Security Council is
recognized.

2. It is also recognized that no provision of this
Agreement shall in any way prejudice the rights, claims and positions of either
Party hereto in the ultimate peaceful settlement of the Palestine question, the
provisions of this Agreement being dictated exclusively by military and not by
political considerations.

ARTICLE III

1. In pursuance of the foregoing principles and of
the resolution of the Security Council of 16 November 1948, a general armistice
between the armed forces of the two Parties - land, sea and air - is hereby
established.

2. No element of the land, sea or air military or
para-military forces of either Party, including non-regular forces, shall commit
any warlike or hostile act against the military or para-military forces of the
other Party, or against civilians in territory under the control of that Party;
or shall advance beyond or pass over for any purpose whatsoever the Armistice
Demarcation Line set forth in Article V of this Agreement; or enter into or pass
through the air space of the other Party or through the waters within three
miles of the coastline of the other Party.

3. No warlike act or act of hostility shall be
conducted from territory controlled by one of the Parties to this Agreement
against the other Party or against civilians in territory under control of that
Party.

ARTICLE IV

1. The line described in Article V of this
Agreement shall be designated as the Armistice Demarcation Line and is
delineated in pursuance of the purpose and intent of the resolution of the
Security Council of 16 November 1948.

2. The basic purpose of the Armistice Demarcation
Line is to delineate the line beyond which the armed forces of the respective
Parties shall not move.

3. Rules and regulations of the armed forces of the
Parties, which prohibit civilians from crossing the fighting lines or entering
the area between the lines, shall remain in effect after the signing of this
Agreement with application to the Armistice Demarcation Line defined in Article
V, subject to the provisions of paragraph 5 of that Article.

ARTICLE V

1. It is emphasized that the following arrangements
for the Armistice Demarcation Line between the Israeli and Syrian armed forces
and for the Demilitarized Zone are not to be interpreted as having any relation
whatsoever to ultimate territorial arrangements affecting the two Parties to
this Agreement.

2. In pursuance of the spirit of the Security
Council resolution of 16 November 1948, the Armistice Demarcation Line and the
demilitarized Zone have been defined with a view toward separating the armed
forces of the two Parties in such manner as to minimize the possibility of
friction and incident, while providing for the gradual restoration of normal
civilian life in the area of the Demilitarized Zone, without prejudice to the
ultimate settlement.

3. The Armistice Demarcation Line shall be as
delineated on the map attached to this Agreement as Annex I. The Armistice
Demarcation Line shall follow a line midway between the existing truce lines, as
certified by the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization for the Israeli
and Syrian forces. Where the existing truce lines run along the international
boundary between Syria and Palestine, the Armistice Demarcation Line shall
follow the boundary line.

4. The armed forces of the two Parties shall
nowhere advance beyond the Armistice Demarcation Line.

5. (a) Where the Armistice Demarcation Line does
not correspond to the international boundary between Syria and Palestine, the
area between the Armistice Demarcation Line and the boundary, pending final
territorial settlement between the Parties, shall be established as a
Demilitarized Zone from which the armed forces of both Parties shall be totally
excluded, and in which no activities by military or para-military forces shall
be permitted. This provision applies to the Ein Gev and Dardara sectors which
shall form part of the Demilitarized Zone.

(b) Any advance by the armed forces, military or
para-military, of either Party into any part of the Demilitarized Zone, when
confirmed by the United Nations representatives referred to in the following
sub-paragraph, shall constitute a flagrant violation of this Agreement.

(c) The Chairman of the Mixed Armistice Commission
established in Article VII of this Agreement and United Nations Observers
attached to the Commission shall be responsible for ensuring the full
implementation of this Article.

(d) The withdrawal of such armed forces as are now
found in the Demilitarized Zone shall be in accordance with the schedule of
withdrawal annexed to this Agreement (Annex II).

(e) The Chairman of the Mixed Armistice Commission
shall be empowered to authorize the return of civilians to villages and
settlements in the Demilitarized Zone and the employment of limited numbers of
locally recruited civilian police in the zone for internal security purposes,
and shall be guided in this regard bythe schedule of withdrawal referred to in
sub-paragraph (d)
of this Article.

6. On each side of the Demilitarized Zone there
shall be areas, as defined in Annex III to this Agreement, in which defensive
forces only shall be maintained, in accordance with the definition of defensive
forces set forth in Annex IV to this Agreement.

ARTICLE VI

All prisoners of war detained by either Party to
this Agreement and belonging to the armed forces, regular or irregular, of the
other Party, shall be exchanged as follows:

1. The exchange of prisoners of war shall be under
United Nations supervision and control throughout. The exchange shall take place
at the site of the Armistice Conference within twenty-four hours of the signing
of this Agreement.

2. Prisoners of war against whom a penal
prosecution may be pending, as well as those sentenced for crime or other
offence, shall be included in this exchange of prisoners.

3. All articles of personal use, valuables,
letters, documents, identification marks, and other personal effects of whatever
nature, belonging to prisoners of war who are being exchanged, shall be returned
to them, or, if they have escaped or died, to the Party to whose armed forces
they belonged.

4. All matters not specifically regulated in this
Agreement shall be decided in accordance with the principles laid down in the
International Convention relating to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, signed
at Geneva on 27 July 1929.

5. The Mixed Armistice Commission established in
Article VII of this Agreement shall assume responsibility for locating missing
persons, whether military or civilian, within the areas controlled by each
Party, to facilitate their expeditious exchange. Each Party undertakes to extend
to the Commission full co-operation and assistance in the discharge of this
function.

ARTICLE VII

1. The execution of the provisions of this
Agreement shall be supervised by a Mixed Armistice Commission composed of five
members, of whom each Party to this Agreement shall designate two, and whose
Chairman shall be the United Nations Chief of Staff of the Truce Supervision
Organization or a senior officer from the Observer personnel of that
Organization designated by him following consultation with both Parties to this
Agreement.

2. The Mixed Armistice Commission shall maintain
its headquarters at the Customs House near Jisr Banat Yakub and at Mahanayim,
and shall hold its meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem
necessary for the effective conduct of its work.

3. The Mixed Armistice Commission shall be convened
in its first meeting by the United Nations Chief of Staff of the Truce
Supervision Organization not later than one week following the signing of this
Agreement.

4. Decisions of the Mixed Armistice Commission, to
the extent possible, shall be based on the principle of unanimity. In the
absence of unanimity, decisions shall be taken by majority vote of the members
of the Commission present and voting.

5. The Mixed Armistice Commission shall formulate
its own rules of procedure. Meetings shall be held only after due notice to the
members by the Chairman. The quorum for its meetings shall be a majority of its
members.

6. The Commission shall be empowered to employ
observers, who may be from among the military organizations of the Parties or
from the military personnel of the United Nations Truce Supervision
Organization, or from both, in such numbers as may be considered essential to
the performance of its functions. In the event United Nations Observers should
be so employed, they shall remain under the command of the United Nations chief
of Staff of the Truce Supervision Organization. Assignments of a general or
special nature given to United Nations Observers attached to the Mixed Armistice
Commission shall be subject to approval by the United Nations Chief of Staff or
his designated representative on the Commission, whichever is serving as
Chairman.

7. Claims or complaints presented by either Party
relating to the application of this Agreement shall be referred immediately to
the Mixed Armistice Commission through its Chairman. The Commission shall take
such action on all such claims or complaints by means of its observation and
investigation machinery as it may deem appropriate, with a view to equitable and
mutually satisfactory settlement.

8. Where interpretation of the meaning of a
particular provision of this Agreement, other than the Preamble and Article I
and II, is at issue, the Commission's interpretation shall prevail. The
Commission, in its discretion and as the need arises, may from time to time
recommend to the Parties modifications in the provisions of this Agreement.

9. The Mixed Armistice Commission shall submit to
both Parties reports on its activities as frequently as it may consider
necessary. A copy of each such report shall be presented to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations for transmission to the appropriate
organ or agency of the United Nations.

10. Members of the Commission and its Observers
shall be accorded such freedom of movement and access in the area covered by
this Agreement as the Commission may determine to be necessary, provided that
when such decisions of the Commission are reached by a majority vote United
Nations Observers only shall by employed.

11. The expenses of the Commission, other than
those relating to United Nations Observers, shall be apportioned in equal shares
between the two Parties to this Agreement.

ARTICLE VIII

1. The present Agreement is not subject to
ratification and shall come into force immediately upon being signed.

2. This Agreement, having been negotiated and
concluded in pursuance of the resolution of the Security Council of 16 November
1948 calling for the establishment of an armistice in order to eliminate the
treat to the peace in Palestine and to facilitate the transition from the
present truce to permanent peace in Palestine, shall remain in force until a
peaceful settlement between the Parties is achieved, except as provided in
paragraph 3 of this Article.

3. The Parties to this Agreement may, by mutual
consent, revise this Agreement or any of its provisions, or may suspend its
application, other than Articles I and III, at any time. In the absence of
mutual agreement and after this Agreement has been in effect for one year from
the date of its signing, either of the Parties may call upon the
Secretary-General of the United Nations to convoke a conference of
representatives of the two Parties for the purpose of reviewing, revising, or
suspending any of the provisions of this Agreement other than Articles I and
III. Participation in such conferences shall be obligatory upon the Parties.

4. If the conference provided for in paragraph 3 of
this Article does not result in an agreed solution of a point in dispute, either
Party may bring the matter before the Security Council of the United Nations for
the relief sought on the grounds that this Agreement has been concluded in
pursuance of Security Council action toward the end of achieving peace in
Palestine.

5. This Agreement, of which the English and French
texts are equally authentic, is signed in quintuplicate. One copy shall be
retained by each Party, two copies communicated to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations for transmission to the Security Council and the United Nations
Conciliation Commission on Palestine, and one copy to the Acting Mediator on
Palestine.

DONE at Hill 232 near MAHANAYIM on the 20th July
1949, in the presence of the Personal Deputy of the United Nations Acting
Mediator on Palestine and the United Nations Chief of Staff of the Truce
Supervision Organization.